Page 71 of Lash

"What if we pick off the patrols?" Rev suggests. "Get their attention."

"Kicking the nest doesn't seem like a good plan to me," Chance says. "We’re outnumbered."

"Any tools in those bags?" asks Kane.

Silas roots through both and comes up shaking his head. "Nothing for wire. No rope, either."

"Shit." Solomon turns away from the group, thinking. He comes back, pointing at Rev. "I think we have to go with his idea. But we don't pick them off one by one. We do it all at once, in sync. It'll have to be you three again. Once we’re inside, the rest of us can and will incapacitate, but until we're in, we can't risk accidental detection."

"So we take out the patrols, and then what?" Kane asks.

"Fake 'em out," Chance suggests. "Toss some grenades over the south wall to get their attention while everyone else breaches the gate."

"What do we know about the gate?" Silas asks.

"Not much,” Lorenzo answers. "I couldn't risk getting close enough to assess."

"We do have breaching explosives," Silas says.

"So we take out the patrols, pull their attention to the south wall," Lorenzo says, putting the plan together. "Breach the front gate. Infil, find Inez, and fight our way out."

"I'm just gonna say this because someone has to," Saxon says into the ensuing silence. "I'm not sure how realistic it is to think we can accomplish this without killing anyone, even by accident. We all know that once a pitched firefight starts, you take the shotyou get. You can't wait for a perfect target. This is already damn near a suicide mission."

Rev clears his throat. "I don't disagree. I'll do everything I can to keep that oath, but if it's my life or one of yours on the line, I’m doing what I gotta do, oath be damned. I swore that oath and I fuckin' meant it, but not at the expense of the lives of the people I care about."

"Word," Saxon says.

Solomon scans the group. "I think we all agree. We keep our oaths, but if it comes down to dropping a motherfucker to save a life or stay alive, do it."

"Agreed," Chance says.

"Same," Kane adds.

Silas frowns and then shrugs. "I don't see another way. Don't give a fuck what it takes, I’m going home to Naomi."

Everyone assents to that.

"But listen to me," I say. "Please, do not throw away your vows lightly. I know, this is easy for me to say as I have not sworn that oath. But it means something. If you must break it, then so be it. But do not look for excuses."

There's no verbal response to this, but I see everyone nodding, thinking.

"So," Solomon says, clapping his hands to get our attention. "Teams. Scarlett, Tatiana, Kane—you take out the south perimeter patrol. Lorenzo, Silas, and Saxon, west side. Lash, Chance, Rev, and I will take the gate. Stay on your comms and wait for the signal from me." He waits for questions. "Once the patrols are down, Scarlett, Tatiana, and Kane, you throw a bunch of grenades and flashbangs over the south wall. Maybe just flashbangs, honestly—we don’t know the layout of the interior, so we don’t wanna cause destruction when we don't know where Inez is being held."

"Copy that," Kane says. "Flashbangs only."

"Once we have the distraction, my team will breach the gate and the rest of us will infil."

"We’ll be a ways behind the rest of you," Scarlett says. “We gotta circle from the south."

“That actually works out," Solomon says. "You can be rearguard, make sure we don’t get surprised. Maybe post Tatiana at the gate watching for reinforcements."

Tatiana looks frightened but determined. "I can do that."

“Good." Solomon scans us again. "Any questions, comments, or concerns?"

Silence.

"Everyone knows the plans?" he asks.